Pamela Williams - The Look Of Love (2007)

Almost like a commercially dictated epidemic, nearly every top smooth jazz artist did a cover album in the mid-2000s. Saxtress Pamela Williams came to the party a little after most of her cohorts did, and after delivering two of her most compelling discs ever in Sweet Saxations and Elixir. But while the prospect of an album like her Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Dionne Warwick tribute could have seemed like a downturn in creative momentum, she had actually wanted to pay homage to these pop giants for ten years. The current marketplace simply provided the opportunity -- and she takes brilliant advantage, coming up with stylistic twists that somehow do add something fresh. Her playing is rich, soulful, and expressive (all trademarks to her sensual, groove-oriented sound) and her arrangements are bright and energetic. Sometimes, they're straightforward and low-key (the lush, smoky title track; "Anyone Who Had a Heart"), and in other instances they're snazzy, jazzy, brassy, and funky, as on "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" (featuring Steve "Left Hand" Lewis' crisp and cool electric guitar), the bright and bouncy "Don't Make Me Over," and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose," which bursts with a bubbling, percussive Latin vibe. "I Say a Little Prayer" and "Walk on By" (with dreamy vocals by Precious Iglesias) perfectly reflect Williams' preferred playful old-school style. So while the idea of yet another album of pop standards was old hat by the time she got around to pursuing her dream, the saxophonist's powerfully emotional execution makes these timeless songs as hip as they can be 40 years after listeners first heard them. ~ Jonathan Widran